On Sunday 20 April the Curzon Community Cinema in Clevedon celebrated its 96th birthday – almost a century of continuous operation as a working cinema - by throwing its doors open for its annual Open Day.

The Curzon opened its doors for the first time on 20 April 1912. It has been showing films to the public continuously since then, even through the construction work that saw the cinema enlarged and a second storey added in the 1920’s.

The Open Day drew over 300 visitors who took the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes, visiting areas that are not normally open to the public, with informative guides on hand to explain the story behind this historic local landmark and to answer questions about its operation. Also available for viewing on the day were parts of The Curzon Collection – an archive collection of projection and other cinema technology spanning the history of cinema. The collection comprises items on loan and individual donations as well as items that have been saved from other cinemas – including the Odeon (Muswell Hill) and the now demolished Gaiety Cinema in Bristol.

As well as viewing the building and The Curzon Collection, there was the opportunity to watch a short DVD on the history of The Curzon, view a history storyboard, buy film posters and take refreshments.

Some visitors came from some distance away to see behind the scenes of what is both a working cinema and an international heritage treasure. Curzon Director, Gareth Negus said, “Naturally most visitors to the Open Day came from the local community, but we do also get visitors from other parts of the country. Some of these come of their own initiative and some attended because they are visiting friends or family locally.”

A significant part of the Curzon Collection is made up of items on permanent loan from the Projected Picture Trust, based at Bletchley Park, and the two organisations took the opportunity at the Open Day to sign a landmark partnership agreement that will secure these items in the collection for several years to come. Curzon Chair of Trustees Hilary Neal said, “We have been working with the PPT for a number of years now and are very grateful to them for complementing our Collection. Both of us agree that the arrangement has worked very well and we are delighted to be entering into this new phase in our relationship with them.”